He Shouldn't Have Been There
by candyfists
Summary: He shouldn't have been there, but he was. Alfred F. Jones was just a normal person exploring the world that was given to him until he found himself lost in a never ending swamp. One night, he stumbles upon a dim light in the distance and finds himself in a whole new world, one that he doesn't particularly want any part in.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia, but I am a healthy follower of Doitsuism**

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"It is beautiful day again, right?" a sing song voice rang out through the swamped area that was overrun by the wildlife that resided there, "I think it might be raining again today. I know how much you like the rain."

The thicket of trees seemed to go on for forever followed by the murky water that filled the area. The lush environment above kept everything shaded below, only letting in speckles of sunlight here and there. No, it wasn't dark and mysterious. It was more like something from a fairytale. A fairytale that took place in the woods that told of a hidden area shaded by trees and covered with only the greenest of grass. There was an abundance of lily pads that held bright pink, yellow, and white hues in them that floated on the water's surface. Frogs lazed around in the spots of sun all day while dragonflies zipped to and fro across the swamp. Beautifully white egrets also seemed to take rest here even if it was just for a quick bite to eat beside their alligator companions. It was truly a peaceful area.

In the very middle of it all, stood a great banyan tree, one that towered over all others. It was a tree that none of other could be compared to. Currently, its branches were stretched out to show off the dark green leaves it held; leaves which provided shade for the life below it. The trunk was covered in roots and vines and seemed to be as wide as the swamp itself. This tree was known as the 'Heart of the Swamp' for at the stroke of midnight, many people would testify to seeing a bright, blue light illuminating from beneath the roots and branches of the banyan tree. It was a comforting light that would bring smiles to even the weariest of travelers. The light never lasted; always gone in no longer than a minute. There was one other time when this light was believed to shine, but hardly anyone believed the old wive's tale. Word had it that the magnificent light would gleam when some sort of figure with webbed-like extremities and silvery scales was near. That was all anyone knew of the creature; it was quick and knew how to hide amongst the thick branches and murky water. No one seemed to care too much about the legend of this creature though for it had appeared as suddenly as the beloved banyan tree had and none dared to question the tree for the swamp had never flourished as much as it had ever since the tree sprouted up. After all, the tree was know as the 'Heart of the Swamp' for a reason.

….

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Alfred F. Jones, 19 years old and fresh out of highschool. Honey-blonde hair with a single cowlick that stood up no matter how much it had been attempted to be flattened. Typically seen with a pair of converse, jeans, and a baggy t-shirt was currently on a backpacking trip to see as much of the world as he could before he would be sent off to college. Currently, Alfred was standing in the middle of a giant swamp, clad with rubber boots and overalls to protect his clothing from the water. Well it should have if he hadn't tripped over a tree root and got himself completely wet. Thankfully everything in his hiking backpack was kept dry; everything except for his map. Now, the teen was trudging through algae infested waters with a complete disregard for any creatures that could be lurking in shadows.

"Those village guys were right, I should have just hitched a ride through here, but nooo. I, Alfred, just had to walk through it by myself." a loud, exaggerated sigh was released before a laugh broke out, "Ah well. More life experiences and stories for me to tell back home, sure as hell beats studying my ass off in college." Alfred laughed more as he flipped his soggy map around, trying to figure out where he was, of course the smudged ink wasn't helping his cause. He did think he was right though, this was much better than trying to juggle a job and college like his twin brother was doing.

If there was anyone that Alfred missed while on his journey, it was his brother Matthew. Whenever he could, Alfred would send letters back home talking about everything he's seen, occasionally he would send back pictures, little knick knacks, or packaged snack foods. Of course, Alfred missed his friends and other family members, but Matthew was his best friend. They literally grew up together being twins and all. He loved his brother, and it filled him with pride when he got to brag about how his brother was going to be the best oncologist the world has ever seen! Granted, he wouldn't be able to brag about it if he didn't get out of this swamp.

Back to the task at hand, Alfred stomped his way through the water in the direction he had chosen in hopes that he would finally reach another village. The teen had already been walking a few days, this swamp seemed to go on for forever. No one had driven through on a boat or anything, so he doubted that he was going to be able to hitch a ride anytime soon.

After a few more hours of trudging his way through the swamp, Alfred had decided to settle down for the night. Much like other nights, there was no dry land for him to set up his sleeping bag so he had to climb up a sturdy looking tree and strap himself down to a branch as he was now. Curled up in his sleeping bag with several belts and ropes tied around him to keep him from falling off in the middle of the night, Alfred was now staring up at the starry night sky. Hercules, the constellation, could be seen bright and clear through the thicket of leaves from the other trees surrounding him. Alfred knew all the constellations, he had dreams of being an astronaut one day, or at least an astronomer. Point was, he really liked space.

Now that he had time to think about it, this swamp sucked. The water was nasty, filled with algae, trash, and the corpses of dead insects. There were also tons of dead trees and tree stumps lying around. The worst part about it had to be the plethora of mosquitos. The little monstrosities were everywhere!  
"Man...I just can't wait to get out of here already. Swamps are lamer than those National Geographic videos showed them to be…" Alfred groaned in complaint, "I wish I was camping, I would kill for some s'mores right now..Ooh, and a hotdog that just came out of the fi-" his stomach growled, "Don't think about food Jonesy. We're trying to ration here." he told himself before his stomach growled at him again. Eventually, Alfred gave in to his stomach's demands and ate half a pack of trail mix. Yes, he had plenty of food, but Alfred just wanted to make sure he always had enough food on him just in case.

Now that he was fed a little more, Alfred found his eyelids growing heavy and deemed it time to hit the hay. With a yawn, the teen made sure he was strapped in properly one last time before blacking out from exhaustion.

….

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It was the middle of the night. Bright, blue eyes flashed open as it's owner's stomach ripped through the other sounds of...no there were no other sounds. It was dead silent. Odd. Sitting up, Alfred rubbed his eyes and dug his glasses out from his backpack that was tied up to the trunk of the tree. Why did he have to wake up at such an ungodly hour of the night? This must be the curse of this swamp. It sucked in travelers, ruined their maps, made them crazy hungry, gave them millions of bugs bites, and threw snakes on their ches-wait.

"AaAAahHOH MYGOD-!" screeching, Alfred wiggled around in his sleeping bag and managed to slip an arm out to wack the creature off of himself.

Well, now he was awake. He laid there, panting heavily as he tried to cam himself down. It wasn't like he had a biff against snakes, it was just that if you woke up in the middle of night with a snake on your chest, you'd flip out too. Thank to the adrenaline rush, Alfred was in no mood to sleep. More like he was ready to go punch some stuff and run a few laps. That wasn't really an option at the moment though.

Looking around with squinted eyes, Alfred found there really was nothing to look at. The only source of light he had was the moonlight and, compared to the sun, it really wasn't much. However, there seemed to be a faint...purple light? There was no way, but at the same time it really seemed like it was there. Maybe it was just a trick of his eyes.

After staring at it for a few minutes, Alfred decided since he wasn't going to be sleeping he might as well go check it out.

Walking around a swamp is already a horrible idea, but walking around a swamp in the middle of the night? It must have been a good idea since Alfred was suited up and making his way through the water armed with a flashlight that flickered on and off thanks to the battery almost being dead. Thankfully, the water hadn't been very deep in this swamp, which seemed odd, but Alfred never though much of it.

Alfred trudged his way through the water, trying to be quiet, but being quiet in water was near impossible. So, he slished and sloshed his way until finally he was met with a wall of vines that were all tangled together in the middle. Alfred aimed his flashlight at the clumped mess and cursed as he dropped the flashlight in the water. Now he only had the dim, purple light emitting from inside the tangled vines. There was the option of using his phone light, but he wasn't going to risk dropping that too.

"Man, what kind of Hollywood shit is this?" he mumbled to himself as he brought out his pocket knife, "I hope there's an alien in here. That would be so cool! Imagine the headlines, Traveler discovers alien in swamp. Man, I'd be so famous, Mattie would flip!" he laughed to himself before he held the knife up and let out a shaky sigh. Fuck. What if this turned into some Predator or Alien Isolation shit? Why was he like this? Excited, yet scared shitless.

Sucking in a deep breath, Alfred took a bundle of the vine and cut it away. His eyes had closed in fear that some substance would splurt out, but when nothing happened, Alfred could only let out the breath he had been holding and laugh.

"Thank God...Geez, I can do this! Just pretend you're the super cool main charac-" eyes wide, Alfred froze with his mouth froze in a smile as he found himself staring into a set of glowing purple eyes.

Alfred couldn't even bring himself to scream as he felt vines wrap around his ankles as a webbed hand shot out from the tangled mess and clenched Alfred's wrist tightly, causing the teen to cry out in pain.

With his heart racing, Alfred took in what he thought may be the last few breaths of air he gets and let his mouth fall agape has the vines opened up and rose up enough that Alfred was no longer standing in water.

Since it was dark, all Alfred could make out was a broad outline with piercing, violet eyes that had some sort of faint purple light reflection that came in splotches along the creature's body.

Raspy breaths that weren't Alfred's echoed out as the gleaming eyes leered down at Alfred before the creature snarled.

' _This is it, this thing is going to kill me! Aw fuck, I knew I shouldn't have stolen Mattie's Halloween candy every year. God, please let me live, I'm not-"_ ripped from his thoughts, Alfred let out a gasp as what seemed to be the creature's face came inches from Alfred' own.

"How dare you awaken me from my rest.." the creature snarled and Alfred could only gulp and let a few tears roll down his cheeks.

' _Why did this have to happen to me of all people!?'_

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 ** _Author's note: What up world? I'm back with my second fic! :D So excited! Lolol so I hope you guys liked reading this and look forward to more chapters! Please excuse the updates that are to come in the future though, I have an on and off motivation. Anyway, thanks for reading and until next next time!  
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